By Amos Aar
THE Benue State Government will on Saturday name a 9.7-kilometer road in Makurdi, the state capital, after the late Major Gideon Orkar who was executed 1990 for leading a coup against the military junta of General Ibrahim Babangida.
Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mike Inalegwu, told journalists after the State Executive Council (SEC) last Tuesday.
Inalegwu said SEC took the decision because many prophecies made by Orkar about Nigeria have come to pass and there was a need to recognise him as one of the worthy sons and heroes of Benue.
“When Gideon Orkar was talking about the problem of Nigeria, nobody knew that that boy was right. Everything he said during the national broadcast, nobody took him seriously but I want to tell you that we in Benue State have come to realise that Gideon meant well for this country but the powers that be didn’t understand him.
“In the council meeting today, we decided that a street should be named after Gideon Orkar and that is to tell Nigerians that Gideon Orkar prophesied that Nigeria was going to face what we are facing today and they executed him. Today, we are facing exactly what he said. Governance has been turned upside down, nothing is moving.
“So, the 9.7 kilometer-road that bursts at Apir is going to be named ‘Gideon Orkar Road’ and that ceremony will be done on Saturday,” Inalegwu said.
According to the commissioner, the street to be named after the late Major Orkar is one of the projects executed by Ortom’s administration including electricity, roads, Benue Television among others that will be commissioned during the week.
